8th August 2023

I would like to welcome all the Reception families to our school family, those who have never been part of the school family before and those returning. The Reception children have had a great first few days in school. There are a couple of photos below, and we will share some more with you on Monday.

It has been wonderful to see all the children settling into their new classes and routines - despite the heat they have done so well.

Mrs Reynolds

Next Friday, we will have our first celebration assembly of the new school year.

Over the next few weeks we will highlight each of the awards that we give in school so that parents have an understanding of what each one is given for.  Most of these awards are distributed in front of the whole school during our Celebration Worship on a Friday morning. We will start this from next week.

Value Award

This is linked to the school values which are Service, Respect, Kindness, Perseverance, Forgiveness and Thankfulness.

Each half-term we will link school worship and the value award to one of the values. There will be a series of themes which help the children understand what the value is and these will be the focus of each week’s award.

Each week teacher’s will choose someone from their class who has demonstrated the relevant value during the week. Each child will be given a leaf or flower shaped certificate and a sticker. The certificates will be attached to the Values tree in the hall and children will take home their sticker.

Drop off and Pick up - Whole school

For Key Stage 1 parents, as we mentioned in the Newsletter last week, we are trialling a new way for the children to come in and leave school at the beginning and end of the day. We are trying to adapt the end of day to make it easier for parents to see children and for teachers to see parents. The Year 1 children will be assembled at the left of the main door (facing it) and the Year 2 will be at the right. It will be easier if parents could wait at the relevant side of the car park.

For all year groups, until teachers get to know parents, it is likely to take a little longer than usual for us to dismiss the children. It is important that the teachers hand over the children to their adults, so we ask for your patience while they  link children to families.

Meet the Teacher – Years 1 & 2

Monday 11^th September 6.00pm

Meet the Teacher is held at the start of each new school year for parents in Years 1 and 2. It is a chance for the class teacher to introduce themselves to parents and tell you all about classroom expectations, the curriculum they will be teaching this year and some of the topics and activities the class will be doing. 

The meeting will last around 30 minutes and will be held in your child's classroom. We regret that this is not an opportunity to have conversation with the class teacher about any specific issues regarding your child.

In order to enable us to resource accordingly and ensure that we know how is on site in case of emergency we would ask that parents sign up before 12 noon on Monday if you are going to attend, this will allow us to set up a quick sign in for the evening.  Please register here.

Reading Books – Years 1 & 2

All children in KS1 have been reading 1:1 with their class teacher this week. This helps the teachers have a good idea of the reading skills of each child. From Friday next week, the children in KS1 will be bringing home a reading book to read at home. They will also be given a reading record book, this will be sent home daily to record any reading which you do at home with your child. We will also record any reading sessions that take place in school. You may, if you wish, write a message for the class teacher on a post-it note and put it in your child’s reading record.

Children in Year 1 will also bring home a phonics reader in a red folder each Friday. This will need to be returned every Thursday, so that the reader can be changed.

There will be more details about this at 'Meet the Teacher' on Monday.

Sandygate Sunday – 24^th September – Whole school

Once a term we are invited to take part in the 10.59 service at All Saints Church. Some of our pupils will read prayers they have written, and we lead the congregation in one of the songs we sing in school.

All Sandygate families are welcome to come along to the service. We ask that children wear their red sweatshirts/cardigans/PE tshirt to identify them as Sandygate pupils. They should sit with their family during the service and the school staff in church will invite them up at the appropriate times. 

All Saints Church also invite you all to stay on after the service for their Community Harvest Celebration – more details shown below. 

So that we have an idea of how many children might be coming could we ask that you register here if you are planning to come to the service.

Voting for Class Representatives – Years 1 & 2

The children in Years 1 and 2 have voted this week for their representatives on our various Pupil Voice bodies. The results are:

School Councillors

• Year 2 – Rebecca, Riley, Sarah & Frankie 
• Year 1 – Lottie, Ruby, Poppy & Nico

Rights Respecting School Ambassadors

• Year 2 – Lily, James, Joey W, Anya, Jake & Isla W
• Year 1 – Findley, Hannah, Phoebe & Harrison

Eco Warriors

• Year 2 – Noah, Ella, Evelyn & William 
• Year 1 – Tamsyn, Kooper, Esme & George

Art Councillors

• Year 2 – Felix, Isla, Bethany & Max C
• Year 1 – Fleur, Macy, Chloe & Martha

Science Councillors

• Year 2 – Ben, Rory, James & Alexa
• Year 1 – Callum, Maya, Ethan, & Isabella

During the school year, these children will work with the member of staff responsible for that area of school life to plan special events and to represent the pupils in planning what we do within school and in the wider community.

Harvest Festival – 5^th October – Whole School

We will be holding our Harvest Festival Service twice in school on Thursday 5^th October, one at 9.15-9.45 and the other at 2.30-3.00. The service will be led by Year 2 worship leaders and each year group will be singing a song that they will have practised over the preceding weeks. 

In the past this has always been a very popular service and, as space in our school hall is limited, we have had to hold the service twice to accommodate everyone who wished to attend.

We would like to ask all parents who would like to attend this service to book a session through EventBrite here.

Welcome Back!

Get set for a great year

Welcome back! We hope that your children have settled into their new classes and are excited about the term ahead. The PFA would like to thank you once again for the phenomenal fundraising effort last year, we’re hoping that this coming year will also be a great success, and we have lots of fun activities planned; some old favourites and a few new ideas.

New parents & carers coffee morning

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who offered to help run the coffee morning after drop-off on Thursday morning to welcome our new parents and carers. It was a great opportunity to meet other reception parents, and we hope it was enjoyed by all who came. Also, thank you to the bakers who braved the heat and provided some delicious home-made treats.

PFA meeting

Our first PFA meeting of the year will be held at school this Wednesday at 8pm.  Everyone is welcome so do come along and say hello!

Back to school BBQ

Start crossing your fingers for good weather now, the back-to-school barbecue will be held on the school field on Saturday September the 23^rd.  It’s a great way to meet other school families, and the kids have a great time playing on the field.  This year, as long as the rains holds off, we’ll have bouncy castles to help wear the kids out! All the family are invited, just bring a blanket.

Coming up….

A few dates for your diary

Back to school BBQ: Saturday September 23^rd 11:30 – 3:30

Bag2School: Wednesday October 11^th by 9am

Brickies: Sunday November 5^th 2 – 3:30

Christmas disco & Santa visit: Saturday November 25^th